Feds Now Investigating Oklahoma State Department of Health

The Oklahoma Attorney General’s office on Tuesday said a probe into alleged mismanagement of roughly $30 million from the Oklahoma State Department of Health has expanded to include investigators from the FBI and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

You should know: This confirms testimony Interim Health Commissioner Preston Doerflinger gave to a House investigative committee that at least some of the money under scrutiny was in accounts restricted to federal programs administered by the state agency. Authorities are trying to unravel the financial mess, which almost forced the agency to miss its payroll, required a stop-gap emergency cash infusion from lawmakers and led to layoffs. A grand jury investigation could also mean criminal charges.

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This Week in Oklahoma Politics, KOSU's Michael Cross talks with Republican Political Consultant Neva Hill and ACLU Oklahoma Executive Director Ryan Kiesel about a special session called by Governor Fallin for Monday, December 18th, investigations and more firings at the State Department of Health and Governor Fallin issues an executive order to crack down on sexual harassment in state government.

The trio also discusses the Oklahoma City mayoral race and controversy grows over comments from former Oklahoma City Mayor Kirk Humphreys.

Oklahoma state auditor Gary Jones testified Thursday that whistleblowers warned his office of possible fraud months before the State Department of Health nearly missed payroll due to alleged mishandling of $30 million dollars.

Jones provided a detailed timeline describing early efforts to unravel how funds were mismanaged, who knew and when. He told the house investigative committee that an unnamed health department manager came forward in late July to alert his office of financial mismanagement at the state health department. Within days, four more employees came forward.

After a nearly two hour closed-door meeting on Tuesday, the Oklahoma State Board of Health voted to fire the department’s accountability director. The move comes as investigators and lawmakers probe the alleged mismanagement of $30 million dollars at the state agency.

The nine-member board voted to fire Jay Holland from his post as Director of the Office of Accountability Systems. The position is charged with keeping the board and health commissioner informed of any suspected fraud or abuse.